During the summer months, we always get so caught up planning our daytime hours, but what about after sunset? Nightfall brings some of the best photo opps, such as the winning homerun at an evening baseball game, roasting s’mores by a crackling campfire, a spectacular fireworks show in a clear sky, or a romantic moonlit walk on the beach.
Taking pictures in the evening doesn’t have to end with your sunset shot. Here are three ways to draw the light back into your after-dark images.
THE LONG SHOTS
Whenever I go to the ballpark at night, I never fail to see people photographing the field using their flash. It drives me nuts! A flash on a standard camera, digital or otherwise, illuminates at best, about 10 feet in front of the lens. That means all you’re capturing is the back of the heads of the strangers in front of you.
Forget the flash. Instead trust that the other super bright light sources from the field, stage, or fireworks will light up the image for you.
KEEP IT STEADY
When you don’t have mega-watt lighting in the backdrop, like say around a campfire, you may need to change the shutter speed to keep it open longer, allowing more light exposure.
Every camera series (Canon, Nikon, Lumix, etc) has different sensors (measured by ISO) that adjust to speed or light. Play around with your camera in a dimly lit area and observe the difference between the two settings: “Auto ISO” and “High ISO.”
Most modern cameras have decent enough sensors to warn you when the lighting is “too low.” If you see this message, change the ISO to high. Doing this will set you up for dramatic photos, however it often takes the steady hand of a surgeon to battle the blur.
My suggestion is to invest in a portable tripod like the versatile GorillaPod ($20). This lightweight device (pictured right) can be propped up on a car hood or wrapped around a tree branch or any place you would need to stabilize your shot. It features a removable clip with universal ¼-inch tripod screw, which fits most compact cameras and locks securely into place. The rubberized feet and the flexible plastic joints will help you stabilize your camera without harming any trees (or car hoods) for your art.
MORE FLASH, PLEASE
If light is scarce and there’s a lot of action, like newlyweds twirling on the dance floor, an open shutter and turned on flash might not be enough. For an extra boost of brightness try the universal Digi-Slave ($125).
Illuminating up to 115 feet ahead, the difference in your shots will be night and day. The flash fits and works on most, if not all, cameras and runs on it’s own batteries, so your DSLR’s power won’t be affected.
BONUS TIP: Never use a flashlight or car headlights to brighten a dark shot. Those light beams are not multi-directional like a camera flash, so you will likely end up with lots of glare. The flash I recommend above has an adjustable head in case you want to bounce the light off a wall or ceiling, leaving your images free of white hot spots.
About Our Expert: With 20 years as an editor, director and producer of photography for magazines and newspapers, Amelia Hennighausen has been immersed in the change from film to digital from the beginning. Also, as a professor of photojournalism at New York’s Fordham University, she’s made it her job to keep on top of the latest developments in technology and to stay current with the most recent trends.
[Photography by Gary Graves (ballpark). Additional images are courtesy of GorillaPod and Amelia Hennighausen.]
Published on July 29, 2010
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